In the cold, there’s hungry birds, thick ice and frogs to liberate

The pond ice was an inch thick, so Allan Jenkins broke through with a heavy hoe and launched Operation Free the Frogs

Perhaps it is time I learned patience. First surgery, then snow, now pretty constant rain. The sacks of manure, split in the frost, still wait sullenly. The last shards of last year’s growth stand stark against the ground.

The hungry pigeons have stripped the kale and chard, as I hadn’t the heart to deny them. The chicory, too, is finally defeated, though I love the flowers where they have turned to seed. A lone treviso stubbornly clings on, a small hedge of puntarelle tires in the top corner. This is the last thing the pigeons will eat. It must be too bitter for them.

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from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2NayLRE
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In the cold, there’s hungry birds, thick ice and frogs to liberate https://t.co/tmnAzh4g3J Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9

In the cold, there’s hungry birds, thick ice and frogs to liberate https://t.co/tmnAzh4g3J Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9 (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1097014958364217344)

Men, does your decor let you down? Let me introduce you to feng shuggy | Kevin McKenna https://t.co/a56rBTQbvj Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9

Men, does your decor let you down? Let me introduce you to feng shuggy | Kevin McKenna https://t.co/a56rBTQbvj Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9 (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1097014955898036224)

In the cold, there’s hungry birds, thick ice and frogs to liberate

The pond ice was an inch thick, so Allan Jenkins broke through with a heavy hoe and launched Operation Free the Frogs

Perhaps it is time I learned patience. First surgery, then snow, now pretty constant rain. The sacks of manure, split in the frost, still wait sullenly. The last shards of last year’s growth stand stark against the ground.

The hungry pigeons have stripped the kale and chard, as I hadn’t the heart to deny them. The chicory, too, is finally defeated, though I love the flowers where they have turned to seed. A lone treviso stubbornly clings on, a small hedge of puntarelle tires in the top corner. This is the last thing the pigeons will eat. It must be too bitter for them.

Continue reading...

from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2NayLRE
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Men, does your decor let you down? Let me introduce you to feng shuggy | Kevin McKenna

Bin the football posters and black leather sofas and break out the baobab scented candles

Along with other leftwing types, I was tempted to disparage some of the observations of a high-profile interiors analyst. Suzanne Roynon had been invited into a Daily Mail journalist’s home and proceeded to tell her host that she risked repelling men with her choice of decor. Roynon, I’m told, had achieved a measure of esteem among the soft furnishings community by publishing a guide to decluttering one’s hoose. Now she was issuing advice to refined single women on how to clutter them again… with chaps.

Roynon’s musings attracted some amused opprobrium from women, in particular, her advice to go easy on paintings of strong, single women because this may send out a signal to a prospective partner that they want to remain single. Cacti, being prickly, could also be a man-repellent for reasons I wasn’t entirely clear about, as could gloomy titles on your bookshelves. I’m not entirely sure that men take a considered view on the provenance of a woman’s artwork or her reading habits. As for cacti, well, they’re not really a native species in the west of Scotland and besides, it’s always nice to have a wee bit of greenery about the place.

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from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Il8wcj
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Green house: inside a plant-filled London home https://t.co/oxnYlyWkMX Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9

Green house: inside a plant-filled London home https://t.co/oxnYlyWkMX Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9 (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1096807177937973254)

Green house: inside a plant-filled London home

A forest of house plants plus rooflights and glass sliding doors cleverly merge the outside with the inside in this Georgian townhouse

The greening of Julia Thompson’s townhouse began long before the current trend for houseplants in all their frondy, glossy, Instagrammed glory. “Plants bring a house to life, so I’ve always been slightly obsessed with them,” she says.

As any seasoned interiors stylist or photographer will tell you, plants are a go-to way to add colour and texture to a space, handily filling an empty corner or a gap on a shelf. But, for Thompson, plants are just one of a range of elements that make up her personal style, which mixes contemporary art and surfaces with pieces from the 1970s and beyond.

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from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2BBtw8Y
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